The cost of healthcare in the United States has increased dramatically over the last few years. This increase has affected everyone, whether or not they use the healthcare system. A number of factors contribute to this increase. For example, sprawling suburbs have led to a more sedentary lifestyle, resulting in poorer health overall for the average person. Improvements in medicine and medical technology have extended the average lifespan, resulting in a larger number of senior citizens who, in turn, require more healthcare services.
Once considered a small portion of the overall healthcare cost, prescription drugs are now the fastest growing component of the medical bill. Although new and better drugs are now available for treating many common conditions such as allergies, high cholesterol, and arthritis, these so-called blockbuster drugs are very costly. Also, drug companies are spending more on research, development, and advertising, which fuels the increase in prescription drug cost. Not surprisingly, both individual patients and employer providers of healthcare insurance are looking for options to control prescription drug costs.
One way to control prescription drug cost is through a managed healthcare plan. Examples of managed healthcare plans include health maintenance organizations (HMO), preferred provider organizations (PPO), and other similarly structured healthcare plans. Under these plans, a patient can obtain prescription drugs at a discount, but only if he purchases the drugs from an approved pharmacy. The pharmacies, in turn, agree to charge a lower, prearranged price for the prescription drugs in exchange for being approved. Such an arrangement has obvious benefits for both sides.
A drawback of the above approach, however, is that it is usually available only through employer provided healthcare insurance. The employers, typically a company or corporation, often offset some of the insurance premiums to make them affordable to the employees. Patients who are unemployed and/or self-employed often cannot afford to pay the full premiums for a typical healthcare plan. Also, some patients are precluded from participating in such healthcare plans regardless of their employment due to pre-existing medical conditions.
Moreover, although the prearranged prices charged by pharmacies on the plan are usually lower than pharmacies not on the plan, they are not necessarily the lowest or most competitive prices. For example, lower prices may be obtained from pharmacies in other countries. These foreign pharmacies usually provide the same or substantially the same quality, but routinely sell for up to 50 percent less than the prices charged by pharmacies in the United States. Unfortunately, most people do not have the means to travel to another country to obtain prescription drugs. Additionally, dealing with an unknown foreign pharmacy via postal service or the Internet, without more information, involves considerable risk.
Accordingly, what is needed is an alternative to the prescription drug arrangement of typical healthcare plans. Specifically, a way is needed to expand available prescription drugs supply options beyond the limited number of participating pharmacies currently provided by typical healthcare plans.